The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow by Susan Martins Miller Page B

a specific case. Perhaps when your sister returns—”
    â€œMrs. Edwards will be away for several months. The issue is more urgent than that. Would you mind if I had a look for myself?”
    Archie’s eyebrows raised involuntarily. It seemed Mr. Leo had brought him inside St. Andrew’s to look at files about infant boys. Perhaps they would stumble on one infant boy in particular.

    Sarah did not like the blush of pleasure on Emmaline Brewster’s face as she carried the child up the front steps and backinto the house. She wanted to snatch him away. This stranger was going to ruin everything.
    She threw her shoulders back, held up her head, and lifted her skirts as she followed Miss Brewster through the front door. As long as she was tending to the child with Miss Brewster, there seemed to be no objection to Sarah’s using the front door. They had been outdoors for an hour and a half. Miss Brewster had insisted on finding a bench in a grassy park with some shade. She actually lifted the brat out of the buggy and held him on her lap and played with him. Sitting on a bench several yards off, Sarah had been helpless to interfere with the indulgence. They had stayed out twice as long as usual. Now she was the one who would be left to manage a fussy coddled baby who only needed fresh air, not smiles and embraces.
    â€œI think we’ve quite worn him out,” Miss Brewster said once they were in the foyer. “I imagine he will nap soundly now.”
    â€œYes, miss. Shall I take him now?”
    â€œHe might need something to eat first.” Emmaline showed no sign of releasing the child. “You did say he eats at four in the afternoon, didn’t you?”
    â€œHe sometimes likes a bottle.” Sarah had been looking forward to putting the child directly to bed and having an undisturbed cup of tea.
    â€œYou’ve been very helpful, Sarah.” Miss Brewster smiled in a way that unnerved Sarah. “I’ll speak to Penard and make sure you are available to help with an outing every afternoon—though of course I could ask Charlotte if you are not available.”
    â€œYes, miss.” Sarah barely moved her lips. She did not need supervision in airing the child.
    Finally Miss Brewster kissed the baby’s head and handed him back to Sarah. “Perhaps when I have an opportunity, I’ll see if he needs anything in the nursery. I would enjoy seeing him in the setting he’s most familiar with.”
    â€œYes, miss.” Would she really come to the nursery? Surely old Penard would not approve.
    Sarah adjusted the child in her arms as she watched Emmaline, smiling with pleasure, gracefully raise the hem of her dress just enough to glide up the marble staircase.
    â€œSarah, please come with me,” a man’s voice said behind her.
    She turned to see Penard at the dining room door. Sarah exhaled and followed the butler to the kitchen.

    â€œThere’s nothing here.” Leo slapped a stack of papers back into the drawer they had come from. “Thank you for helping me look, Archie, but it seems like we’ve come to a dead end.”
    â€œYes, sir, it would seem so.”
    They had looked through four filing cabinets before encountering any papers that related to infants placed in private settings. Archie was not sure exactly what they were looking for, but after nearly an hour, they had stumbled upon a drawer full of files on “placements.”
    â€œEverything we found has been resolved.” Leo flipped through some loose pages. “A few babies are with wet nurses in the country, and a handful here in the city with women who have sheltered several children over the years. A woman named Mary Given looked after twins until recently, but they were graduated to the toddler dormitory here at St. Andrew’s three months ago. She doesn’t seem to have any others.”
    â€œNo, sir,” Archie said.
    Leo tossed the papers on a desk.